All eyes were on Virginia last week as Ralph Northam rode to the governor's office with a nearly nine-point margin of victory and Democrats surged to gain 15 seats in Virginia's House of Delegates. With Donald Trump in the White House, Democratic party leaders see a turning point for taking back power.

"I smell a wave coming," said New York Sen. and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the day after the election, speaking of his party's prospects to take back the Senate and House.

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Schumer equally well understands another signal from the Virginia victories, and that is the need and opportunity for Democrats to retake state governments across the country.

That's why he endorsed an array of local candidates in New York state elections this year, including candidates for Westchester and Nassau County executive, City Council, and multiple mayoral candidates across the state — nearly all of whom won. In Nassau, Democrats ended decades of Republican rule.

Yet even though he is one of the nation's two most powerful Democrats, representing a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, Schumer inexcusably tolerates illegitimate Republican control of one house of New York's Legislature, the state Senate, with the help of a group of breakaway Democrats.

Even though Democrats hold a majority of seats, Republicans control the state Senate, because the Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC, has abandoned New York's Democrats to share power with the Republican minority.

Thanks to the IDC, New York is not the progressive beacon it should be. We are unable to pass much-needed voting reforms, safeguard reproductive health care, fully fund public schools, or crack down on campaign finance loopholes.

Nor are we doing all we can to hold Trump accountable, including by requiring disclosure of his state tax returns, which would shed light on his financial entanglements and how much he stands to gain from the tax bill he is currently ramming through Congress.

A grassroots anti-IDC movement is gaining momentum as more people grasp the power that state governments hold in the Trump era. Thanks to this movement, nearly every New York politico and their grandmother has denounced the IDC.

They have on their side the entirety of the Democratic leadership of this state, with the exception of IDC leader Jeff Klein — and Sen. Schumer.

In May, all 18 Democrats who represent New York in the House of Representatives signed a letter urging the IDC to rejoin the mainstream Democratic Party. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently declared at a town hall meeting that "this state elected a Democratic state Senate, we should have a Democratic Senate."

We've heard nothing from Sen. Schumer.

State Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, along with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, are actively working on reunifying the Democrats, and also have the support of Mayor de Blasio, Controller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James and even Gov. Cuomo, who relented after heavy pressure from activists.

Even leading Democrats outside of New York have called for reunification and condemned the breakaway Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison.

But not Chuck Schumer.

Schumer's silence is especially puzzling because he has previously championed Democrats in New York's state Senate. In 2014, the New York Times reported that Schumer had endorsed more candidates for state Senate than even Cuomo. In 2016, Schumer personally promoted Stewart-Cousins at the Democratic National Convention. This year, Schumer has stumped for Democrats outside of New York.

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Sen. Schumer: your state needs you. 2018 is around the corner and all eight IDC members will be up for re-election. Join your colleagues in condemning the IDC and calling for the reunification of the Democratic majority. Add your voice to the chorus of politicians and activists pressuring Cuomo to exert his own authority and reunite the party. And, barring movement in that direction, endorse real Democrats running for all eight IDC seats in 2018. Let's ensure that Virginia is a beginning, not an aberration.